KDDI and Sharp have announced the world first debut of a waterproof solar panel powered handset will be available for sale in Japan as of early June. The eco-friendly design will enable an estimated 1 minute of voice usage for every 10 minutes of charging time, under ideal conditions, and appears set to be the first of several innovative models planned for future release. The code-named Voyage, Soup and Gem concept designs are featured Here.
Of course this stunt was bound to get a few tongues wagging, however the meat within, indicating the Feds renewed push for moving domestic digital content into markets overseas, is apparent if not politically motivated. Prime Minister Aso, a well-known manga maniac, was recently quoted as suggesting his government would like to create 500,000 new jobs in the music, fashion and media space by 2020.
Spring is almost here and WeatherNews Japan is gearing up for another Hanmi season with their so-called Sakura Simulator application. Tracking the progess of magic blooming across the country aided by legends of regular users – updates via mobile naturally – along with route map suggestions for where some of the best places are to have a picnic.. wOOt!
NTT Com is now accepting applications for it’s new HOTSPOT Express product, a WLAN service for the bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka, which will start March 14. Touted as the first wireless Internet access offering on any Shinkansen line in Japan, although UQ Wi-Fi recently announced availability for select corporate customers as of March as well, the service will offer maximum downlinks of 2Mbps on each 16-coach bullet train for any IEEE 802.11b/g-compatible device for a monthly charge of 819 yen (approx. $8 usd). According to the announcement, connectivity will also be available in the waiting lounges of all 17 stations along the route.
JCI will start a new fixed-rate data service with a fee of approx 10-cents per minute on March 23, 2009. “Doccica” will use DoCoMo’s 3G network combined with public wireless LAN access points from several established providers. Subscribers are required to purchase a USB dongle manufactured by ZTE Corp., for approx US$150, including a pre-paid fee of for the first 500 minutes. WWJ conducted a video interview with Sanda-san, way back in 2002, about the mvno’s B-Mobile product offering.
NTT Com held a press conference to announce their new free push-type service that feeds information about nearby places of interest to iPhone and iTouch owners who also subscribe to the companies HOTSPOT WLAN flat-rate data package offering. The new service, named Cocotan! taken from Japanese koko “here” and tan “search”, automatically provides a list of recommendations based on the clients access point matched to a database of consumer-generated content, including blogs and Web reviews, for restaurants etc. located near-by.
